Recording method, recording medium, and recording system

ABSTRACT

An information recording medium and an optical recording system allow target information (such as an ad) to be displayed without requiring changes in hardware or physical specifications. The recording medium comprises a recording-limited area in which recording is made possible by canceling the limit after an instruction is issued for displaying the target information.

This is a continuation application of U.S. Ser. No. 10/084,379, filedFeb. 28, 2002, now allowed, which is incorporated herein by reference.

This application claims priority from Japanese Application No.2001-314720, filed Oct. 12, 2001, which is incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an allocation of recorded data in aninformation recording medium, and more particularly to a system forrecording by means of generally available recording and playback drives.

2. Description of the Related Art

As an example of an information recording system according to therelated art, an optical recording and playback system for an informationrecording medium having target information (such as an advertisement)will be described by referring to FIGS. 3 and 9.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of the optical recording and playbackapparatus according to the prior art. A laser light source 25 whichforms a part of an optical head 2 emits light (with a wavelength ofabout 660 nm in the case of a DVD-RAM). The light passes through acollimator lens 24 by which the light is collimated into substantiallyparallel beams of light 22. The light beams 22 are irradiated onto anoptical disc 11 via an objective lens 23, thereby forming a spot 21.Thereafter, the light beams are guided to a servo detector 26 and asignal detector 27 via a beam splitter 28 and a hologram element 29, forexample. Signals from the individual detectors are processed by additionor subtraction to provide servo signals such as a tracking error signaland a focus error signal, which are input to a servo circuit. Based onthese tracking error signal and focus error signal, the servo circuitcontrols the position of a drive means 31 for the objective lens 23 andthat of the optical head 2 as a whole, such that the light spot 21 ispositioned at a desired recording or playback area. An addition signalfrom the detector 27 is input to a signal playback block 41. The inputsignal is digitally processed after filtering and frequency-equalizeprocessing by a signal processing circuit. A digital signal after thedigital processing is processed by an address detection circuit and ademodulation circuit. Based on an address signal detected by the addressdetection circuit, a microprocessor computes the position of the lightspot 21 on the optical disc 11, and positions the optical head 2 andthus the light spot 21 at a desired recording unit area (sector) bycontrolling an automatic position control means.

When an higher-order apparatus instructs the optical recording andplayback apparatus to record, the microprocessor receives recording datafrom the higher-order apparatus and stores it in a memory, whilecontrolling the automatic position control means to position the lightspot 21 at a desired recording area. After confirming that the lightspot 21 has been correctly positioned at the recording area based on theaddress signal from the signal playback block 41, the microprocessorcontrols a laser driver, for example, to record the data stored in thememory in the desired recording area.

The address signal is assigned to each information recording unit area,as shown in FIG. 6. Since the address signal is placed at the head ofthe recording unit area, the position of the light spot immediatelybefore recording can be verified by detecting the address signal.

FIG. 9 shows an example of the flow of operation of an optical recordingsystem for driving a DVD-RAM disc, as an example of the above-describedoptical recording system. The DVD-RAM disc is a rewritable disc definedby the international standard ISO/IEC-16824, for example.

When a disc is inserted or the optical recording system is turned on,the optical recording system first performs a processing to determinethe type of the medium. In addition to the DVD-RAM, the system isusually equipped with playback functions for read-only media such asCD-ROMs or DVD-ROMs. Thus, the optical recording system initiallydetermines the type of the medium to identify which of theabove-mentioned media the inserted medium is. The manner in which thedetermination processing is performed differs from one system toanother. For example, there is a system in which the type of the mediumis determined based on the reflectivity or the analog characteristics ofplayback signals such as the focus error signal. In another system, thetype of the medium is determined by playing back the medium's physicalinformation retaining area provided on a disc substrate and looking atits contents (data).

Once the optical recording system identifies that the medium is of therewritable type, i.e., a DVD-RAM, it examines the recorded contentsincluding a defect management information area to see if the opticaldisc has been physically formatted. If not physically formatted, thesystem waits until an instruction for physical formatting is issued fromthe higher-order apparatus or user.

When the optical disc is physically formatted, the optical recordingsystem performs recording preparation processes such as a calibrationprocessing and logical consistency verification, and then waits forinstructions from the user or higher-order apparatus. Upon receipt ofsome kind of a command, the optical recording system checks the type ofthe command and, when it is a record command, performs a recordprocessing. When the command is instructing a playback, formatting, ordisc retrieval, for example, the system performs a relevant processing.Normally these processes come to an end without a hitch, but if therecording was unsuccessful for unexpected reasons, an error processingsuch as a retry or a replacement processing is performed.

In the case of a DVD-RAM, recorded data reliability is usually increasedby actually playing back the medium during the record processing to seeif the recorded data has been correctly recorded, and performing areplacement processing using a different recording unit area asrequired. Management information concerning a re-allocation of arecording area necessitated by the replacement processing is recorded ina special area (defect management area) on the recording medium.

In the known optical recording system as described above, the recordeddata in the information recording medium in which the target informationis recorded can be basically freely erased and re-written. Accordingly,the target information might possibly be erased and re-written by anerroneous or intentional operation by the user before the targetinformation is displayed. This means that the target information displayeffect can be lowered.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide aninformation recording medium and optical recording system capable ofdisplaying the target information without changing hardware and/orphysical specifications.

This object of the invention can be achieved by the followingarrangement.

Initially, a recording-limited area is created on a recording medium.When an instruction is issued to record the recording medium or when therecording medium is set in a recording apparatus, an instruction isissued for displaying the target information such as an advertisement,thereby displaying the information on a screen of an informationprocessing terminal or on a TV screen. Thereafter, the limit in therecording-limited area is canceled, thereby making a recording possible.Then, an actual recording is performed.

In this way, a new manner of using the medium can be obtained. Forexample, in the case where the target information concerns anadvertisement for a corporation, the corporation can pay a certainamount of money to the manufacturer of the recording medium on conditionthat the advertisement for the corporation be displayed by using themedium. Since the manufacturer is paid by the advertiser, i.e., thecorporation, they can sell the recording medium at a reduced price.Thus, the user can purchase the recording medium cheaply.

The recording-limited area can be created by making it impossible toread the allocation information for the limited area. This limit can becanceled by recording the allocation information for the limited area onthe recording medium. Since a recording cannot be performed without theallocation information for the recording limited area, the recordingmedium cannot be recorded at this stage. On the other hand, the readprohibition on the allocation information for the limited area can becanceled and a readout made possible by utilizing a specialized controlsoftware. By recording the allocation information for the limited areain the recording medium, a recording can be performed without thespecialized control software for the second recording and later.

If the use of the specialized control software is desired to remaincompulsory indefinitely, the allocation information for the limited areais recorded on the software. In this way, the control software will berequired during a recording for the second time and later, i.e., the useof the software can be made compulsory.

The recording-limited area can be created in the following manner. In aDVD-RAM, a physical ID (address information) is allocated in the form ofan embossed pit at the head of each recording sector, as shown in FIG.6. To ensure reliability, the address information for identifying asingle sector is recorded quadruply. The recording apparatus determinesthat the address is correct if any one of the four pieces of addressinformation can be correctly played back. Therefore, to make a recordingimpossible, all the four pieces of address information are renderedincapable of correctly being played back. An example of the method ofrendering the address incapable of normal playback can be explained byreferring to FIG. 8, showing the address information consisting of asector attribute, an address number, and an IED (ID error detectioncode). In this method, the IED added to each address information is madeinconsistent to the corresponding ID.

On the other hand, in a step of canceling the limit, the specializedcontrol software is used to perform processes such as a defect-sectorjump processing or a replacement processing based on the recordinglimited area allocation information in the information recording medium,thereby re-writing a defect management table. In the case of making theID error detection code (IED) added to each address informationinconsistent with the corresponding ID, as mentioned above, specificallythe inconsistency was introduced by adding one to theotherwise-consistent IED. To eliminate this inconsistency, one wassubtracted from the IED, thereby obtaining the original, consistent IEDand canceling the limit by which the recording was made impossible.

This specialized control software is for instructing the display of thetarget information (such as an advertisement) and thereafter cancelingthe recording-incapacitating limit. In operation, the software gives aninstruction for displaying the target information (such as an ad) afterthe recording command, and performs, e.g., the defect-sector jumpprocessing and replacement processing based on the recording-limitedarea allocation information present either in the information recordingmedium or on the software, thereby performing the defect managementtable re-write processing.

FIGS. 16 and 12 show the flow after the recording command. FIG. 16relates to the case where the target information and the allocationinformation for the recording-limited area, or their individual recordedlocations, are recorded on the software. As a recording command isgiven, a recording-limited area determination processing is performed.Upon successful determination of the area information recorded on thesoftware, the process goes to Yes, whereupon a recording is madepossible after the issuance of an instruction for displaying the targetinformation. If the result of the determination was No, or theinformation display instruction has yet to be given, the medium isprocessed as a read-only disc. The processes up to this point areperformed on the software, and the subsequent processes are dealt withon the recording means. After the recording was enabled, a check isperformed as to whether a record processing can be normally performed.In the absence of recording data, or when the recording was notsuccessful, the medium is processed as a read-only disc. In the eventthat the recording was not normally performed, an error processing isperformed.

FIG. 12 relates to the case where the target information and therecording-limited area allocation information, or their recordedlocations, are recorded on the recording means or recording medium.

As a recording command is issued, a recording-limited area determinationprocessing is performed. If the area information recorded on thesoftware is successfully determined, the process goes to Yes, whereupona recording is made possible after the issuance of an instruction fordisplaying the target information. If the result of the determinationwas No, or the information display instruction has yet to be issued, themedium is processed as a read-only disc. After the issuance of therecording command, the information display processing is performed onthe software, and the other processes are performed on the recordingmeans. After the recording was made possible, it is checked whether therecord processing can be normally performed. In the absence of recordingdata, or if the recording was unsuccessful, the medium is processed as aread-only disc. In the event that the recording was not performednormally, an error processing is performed.

The procedure of giving the instruction for displaying the targetinformation and canceling the limit may be repeated a plurality oftimes. In this case, the advertisement is displayed each time the userattempts to make a recording, for example.

The target information may be recorded on the recording medium. In thisway, an advantage can be obtained that the information can be easilydistributed. Alternatively, the target information may be recorded inthe specialized software. In this way, the target information does notoccupy the recording area on the medium and thus the recording capacityof the medium can be advantageously increased. Furthermore, the desiredinformation may be played back via external information distributionmeans. For example, the advertisement can be displayed on the screen ofa personal computer via the Internet. In this way, the targetinformation do not occupy the memory capacity of the medium, so that thespecialized software can be burdened less.

Further, after the issuance of the recording instruction, the signalinstructing the display of the target information (such as an ad) andthereafter the signal canceling the recording limit may be provided inthe information recording medium itself. In this case, theabove-mentioned specialized software is present on the informationrecording medium, so that the installment of the specialized software onthe system can be dispensed with or simplified.

The target information and the allocation information for the limitedarea are preferably recorded at the same location. By this it is meantthat they are recorded in combination and not separated from each other.In this case, since the target information and the allocationinformation for the limited area are recorded at the same location, anerasure of the target information results in an erasure of at least apart of the allocation information for the limited area, thereby makingthe playback of the information recorded on the recording mediumimpossible. For example, when the target information concerns anadvertisement, the advertisement is displayed each time a recording isattempted, so that there can be provided a recording medium with a highaudience rating for the advertisement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a diagram of the concept of the present invention,illustrating its object and advantageous effects;

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of an optical recording and playbackapparatus;

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of another optical recording and playbackapparatus;

FIG. 4 shows an example of the logical format of an informationrecording medium according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 shows a diagram of the concept of the present invention,illustrating its object and advantageous effects;

FIG. 6 shows a manner in which address information is allocated;

FIG. 7 shows a diagram of the concept of the present invention,illustrating its object and advantageous effects;

FIG. 8 shows a manner in which address information is allocated;

FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of the operation of an optical recording andplayback apparatus;

FIG. 10 shows a flowchart explaining the operational principle of thepresent invention;

FIG. 11 shows the concept of an embodiment (applied example) of thepresent invention;

FIG. 12 shows a flowchart explaining the operational principle of anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 illustrates the location of a recorded advertisement in anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 illustrates the location of a recorded advertisement in anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 illustrates the location of a recorded advertisement in anembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 16 shows a flowchart explaining the operational principle of thepresent invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary block diagram of a DVD-RAM recording andplayback apparatus as an optical information recording apparatus.Hereafter, the operation of the apparatus on which a medium having norecording limit is mounted will be described.

A head 2 comprises a laser light source 25 (with a wavelength of about660 nm in the case of a DVD-RAM) which emits light. The light iscollimated into substantially parallel beams of light 22 through acollimator lens 24. The light beams 22 are irradiated onto an opticaldisc 11 via an objective lens 23, forming a spot 21. Thereafter, thelight beams are guided to a servo detector 26 and a signal detector 27via a beam splitter 28 and a hologram element 29, for example. Signalsfrom the individual detectors are processed by addition or subtractionto provide servo signals such as a tracking error signal and a focuserror signal, which are input to a servo circuit. Based on the trackingerror and focus error signals, the servo circuit controls the positionof a drive means 31 for the objective lens 23 and that of the light head2 as a whole, such that the light spot 21 is positioned at a desiredrecording or playback area. An addition signal from the detector 27 isinput to a signal playback block 41. The input signal is digitallyprocessed after filtering and frequency-equalize processing by a signalprocessing circuit. A digital signal after the digital processing isprocessed by an address detection circuit and a demodulation circuit.The address detection circuit produces a physical sector number (PSN)which is physical address information. The thus obtained addressinformation corresponds to the recording sector of the medium. In theDVD-RAM system, the address user area begins at 31000 h. Here, thephysical address information refers to information comprising a codeindicating the physical address number on the recording medium and anaddress error detection code verifying the correctness of the addressnumber.

However, in an external recording apparatus such as the presentapparatus which is connected to an higher-order apparatus such as apersonal computer, processes in the higher-order apparatus becomecomplicated if, e.g., the start address of the recording area differsfrom one apparatus to another. Accordingly, the higher-order apparatususually accesses by means of a logic block address (LBA). The logicblock address refers to a code logically indicating the address number,rather than the physical location, on the recording medium.

In the apparatus according to the present embodiment the conversionbetween the LBA and PSN is performed by a microprocessor within theapparatus. Instead, an address conversion circuit may be provided, asshown in FIG. 2. The microprocessor determines the type of the insertedmedium (see FIGS. 9 and 10). When the medium is a DVD-RAM, themicroprocessor reads a defect management table (PDL and SDL) reserved ina defect management area (DMA) outside the data area (two each at aninner-track side and at an outer-track side), and associate the PSN andLBA with each other by performing a defect-sector jump processing and areplacement processing (FIG. 4). In a DVD-RAM disc with a diameter of120 mm and a single-side volume (memory capacity) of 4.7 gigabytes, therewritable data area is located from an inner-most track at PSN=31000hto an outer-most track at PSN=265F5Fh. Of this area, an area from 31000hto 341FFh is reserved as a primary spare area (PSA) for replacement of adefective sector. The primary spare area refers to an area which is usedfor replacement in case a defective sector is present. The PSA includes12800 (3200h) spare sectors. In the DVD-RAM, in addition to the PSA, asecondary spare area (SSA) can be reserved at the outer-most track. Inthis example, an SSA comprising 49152 sectors is reserved fromPSN=259F60 to PSN=265F5F at the outer-most track. As a result, the userarea extends from PSN=34200h to PSN=259F5Fh. Though there are 2252128sectors in this area, since the DVD-RAM disc is designed with a zone CLVstructure, the actual user sector comprises 2245920 sectors aftercounting out the guard area at the zone boundaries. Accordingly, theuser sector is associated with LBAs from LBA=0 (PSN=34200h) toLBA=2245919 (PSN=259F5Fh).

There are two kinds of the defect management table, i.e., a PDL (primarydefect management table) and an SDL (secondary defect management table).The PDL is used for registering initial defects that are found at thetime of shipping of the media or when the media are certified. In thePDL, the PSN of defect sectors is recorded, and the recording andplayback apparatus does not assign the LBA to the sector which has a PSNlisted in the PDL.

The recording and playback apparatus assigns the LBA such that the userdata area advances into the PSA by the number of sectors thus slipped.Accordingly, the head of the user area shifts from PSN=34200h to asmaller PSN direction (i.e. inner-track side). In the PDL, about 8000items of defect sector information can be registered. If there is adefect which is not listed in the defect management table, a defectmanagement-table rewrite processing is performed, such as a defectsector jump processing or a replacement processing. Unless theseprocesses are carried out, the particular sector and the subsequentsectors cause a recording error, thereby preventing a recording.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, a recording medium and aspecialized software as described below are employed so that arecording-limited medium can be used in the conventional system withoutproblems.

First, a plurality of recording blocks including the head portion (4096sector) of the user area were designated as a recording-limited area(see FIG. 4). The recording-limited area was realized by making theaddress number, i.e., address data, and the ID error detection data(IED) inconsistent with each other (see FIG. 8). The specializedsoftware was designed such that when a recording instruction is given torecord the information recording medium with the recording-limited area,an instruction for displaying the target information (such as an ad) isgiven, and thereafter the recording limit is canceled so that arecording can be performed in, in the present example, therecording-limited area. The target information and the recording-limitedarea allocation information are recorded at the same location in theinformation recording medium. This means that the two items ofinformation are recorded in combination so that they cannot beseparated. In a step for canceling the limit, a defect-sector jumpprocessing or a replacement processing, for example, is performed basedon the recording-limited area allocation information in the informationrecording medium, thereby rewriting the defect management table.

In the following, the operational principle of the present embodimentwill be described. While in the present embodiment, therecording-limited area exists, this does not cause any problems innormal use because the recording-limited area does not exist in thelogical user area (logical volume space), which is the user recordingarea after logical formatting. Here, the recording-limited area refersto an area which was recognized to be a defective sector. In the case ofthe UDF, the location of only the AVDP (anchor volume descriptorpointer) is fixed, and the defect management table is recorded at morethan one of LBA=256, LBA=512, LBA=N−256 (N is the final LBA). In the 4.7GB DVD-RAM in the present embodiment, the AVDP is recorded at twolocations of LBA=256 and LBA=2294815. In the AVDP, the allocationposition of two, i.e., a main and a sub, logical volume recognitionsequences (VRS) is described. In the present embodiment, the VRSs wereallocated in 16 sectors starting from LBA=4096 and in 16 sectorsstarting from LBA=4112. In the following sectors, an LVID (logicalvolume integrity descriptor) was allocated, and the logical volume spacewas allocated to start from LBA=4352 and end at LBA=2290975. Namely, theuser volume (logical volume space) on the logical format is about 4.68gigabytes. In the logical volume space, a space bit map, file setdescriptor, directory, user file, etc., are allocated. The UDF is anacronym for Universal Disk Format, which is a comprehensive format formagneto-optical discs. This format is media and OS independent, andcharacterized in that a long file name can be used for the file name.The recording-limited area exists likewise on the physical format incases other than the UDF format. But by recording the recording-limitedarea in the defect management list, the recording-limited area ceases toexist in the logical user area (logical volume space), which is the userrecording area on the logical format, thereby causing no problems innormal use. While the above-example relates to the use of a randomrecording UDF as the file system (logical format), it is possible to usea write-once or a sequential-recording file system if there is a stronglimitation in rewriting.

Thus, by displaying the target information and performing a recording ofthe recording-limited area information following display, the mediumaccording to the present invention can be recorded on the conventionalrecording and playback apparatus or file system without problems.

When the recording-limited area allocation information was recorded inthe user area of the medium, the present medium can be subsequentlyrecorded by a conventional recording and playback apparatus without thespecialized software. On the other hand, when the recording-limited areaallocation information was recorded in the file system within thespecialized software rather than the medium, the present medium can besubsequently recorded only by a recording and playback apparatus withthe specialized software. By recording such event information as thenumber of recordings, i.e., the number of times the target informationwas displayed, together with the recording-limited area allocationinformation, and referring to it during the next recording session, thenumber of times of recording can be limited, or the display contents ofthe target information can be selected based on the number ofrecordings.

Next, the case where the target information (such as an ad) in themedium according to the present embodiment was accidentally erased willbe described. If the target information is erased, since the allocationinformation for the recording-limited area was recorded together withthe target information, the recording-limited area allocationinformation is also erased, making it impossible to record. Accordingly,the medium according to the present embodiment is effectively unable torecord without displaying the target information.

Thus, the target information is displayed whenever the user records, sothat the target information can be displayed with an extremely highefficiency.

FIG. 10 shows the flow of operation of an example of an opticalrecording system according to the present invention. This system isadapted to drive DVD-RAM discs, which are rewritable DVDs defined by theinternational standard ISO/IEC-16824, for example.

As a disc is inserted or the optical recording system is turned on, theoptical recording system initially performs a processing to determinethe type of the medium. Usually, the system is equipped with playbackfunctions for CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs, which are read-only media, inaddition to the DVD-RAMs. Thus, the optical recording system firstdetermines the type of the medium and to which of the above types theparticular medium belongs. The manner in which this determination iscarried out differs from one system to another. For example, there isthe system in which the type of the medium is determined based on thereflectivity or the analog characteristics of playback signals such as afocus error signal. In another system, the type of the medium isdetermined by playing back the media physical-information retaining areaprovided on the disc substrate and looking at its contents (data).

Once the optical recording system recognizes that the medium isrewritable, i.e., a DVD-RAM, it checks the recorded contents such as thedefect management information area, to see if the optical disc has beenphysically formatted. If the allocation information for therecording-limited area is recorded in the system (i.e., in the defectmanagement information area of the medium, software or hardware), or ifthe recorded location of the allocation information is recorded therein,it is determined that the disc is recordable. Since in the presentinvention the recording-limited area allocation information is recordedwithin the system together with the information display function, it isdetermined that the disc is recordable.

If the disc is not physically formatted, the system waits until aninstruction for physical formatting is given by the higher-orderapparatus or user, for example. If the optical disc is physicallyformatted, the optical recording system waits for instructions from theuser or higher-order apparatus after performing recording preparatoryprocesses such as a calibration processing and logical consistencyverification. Upon receipt of some kind of a command, the opticalrecording system checks the type of the command and, if it is a recordcommand, activates a command to display the target information. Afterthe information display instruction is issued, the system performs arecord processing.

While the information display operation starts before recording, thedisplay of the information may take place either during, before, orafter the recording.

If the command is that for playback, formatting or disc ejection, forexample, a relevant processing is performed accordingly. These processesare usually performed normally. In the event the recording wasunsuccessful for unexpected reasons, an error processing such as a retryor a replacement processing is performed.

In the specialized information recording medium and the system using thespecialized information recording medium as mentioned above, while thememory medium is rewritable allowing for erasure and re-recording ofuser data in the user data area where the target information such as anad is recorded, there is provided the function which makes an erasure orre-recording impossible until the target information such as an ad isdisplayed.

Thus, the erasure or re-writing of the medium prior to the display ofthe target information such as an ad is made impossible, therebyincreasing the probability of effect of the target information (such asan ad) as compared to the conventional optical recording system.

The flow after the record command is shown in FIGS. 16 and 12. FIG. 16shows the processing in the case where the target information and therecording-limited area allocation information, or their recordedlocations, are recorded on the software. As a record command is given, arecording-limited area determination processing is performed. If thearea information recorded on the software is successfully determined,the process goes to Yes, whereupon a recording is made possible after aninstruction is given to display the target information. If the result ofthe determination is No, or the information display instruction has yetto be given, the disc is processed as a read-only disc. The processes upto now are performed on the software, and the subsequent processes areperformed on the recording means. After a recording is made possible, acheck is conducted to see if the record processing can be normallyperformed. If the recording was unsuccessful in the absence of recordingdata, for example, the disc is processed as a read-only disc. If therecording was not normally performed, it performed to an errorprocessing.

FIG. 12 shows the flowchart where the target information and therecording-limited area allocation information, or their recordedlocations, are recorded on the recording means or the medium.

As a record command is given, a recording-limited area determinationprocessing is performed. If the area information recorded on thesoftware is successfully determined, the process goes to Yes, whereupona recording is made possible after an instruction for displaying thetarget information is given. If the result of determination was No, orthe information display instruction has yet to be given, the disc istreated as a read-only disc. After the issuance of the record command,the information-display processing is performed on software, while otherprocesses are performed on the recording means. After a recording ismade possible, a check is conducted to see if the record processing canbe normally performed. If the recording was unsuccessful in the absenceof recording data, for example, the disc is treated as a read-only disc.If the recording was not normally performed, resulting in an errorprocessing.

Embodiment 2

An example of the method for forming the recording-limited area will bedescribed. In the DVD-RAMs, a physical ID (address information) isallocated at the head of each recording sector in the form of anembossed pit, as shown in FIG. 6. To ensure reliability, the addressinformation for identifying a single sector is recorded quadruply.

The recording and playback apparatus in this embodiment determines thatthe address is correct if even at least one of the quadruple addressinformation can be normally played back. Accordingly, in order to make arecording impossible, all the four pieces of address information arerendered incapable of being played back normally. As a method ofrendering the normal playback of the address impossible, the ID errordetection code (IED) which is added to each address information was madeinconsistent with a corresponding ID. Specifically, one was added to theoriginally consistent IED. Such a method of rendering the ID data itselfinconsistent is preferable, for it can be applied during the masteringof the media and can be automatically applied to all the media at thesame time that the substrate is formed, which helps to prevent costincreases. In the present embodiment, instead of rendering all the IDsin the recording-limited area incapable of being played back, at leastthe initial two sectors and the last three sectors in each track weremade capable of playback. More specifically, in an inner track portion,the sectors were rendered such that the initial two sectors were capableof playback, the next eight sectors were incapable of playback, the nextfour sectors capable, the next eight sectors incapable, and the lastthree sectors capable. In a periphery track portion, the sectors wererendered such that the initial two sectors were playback-capable, thenext ten sectors were playback-incapable, the next five sectors werecapable, the next ten sectors incapable, the next four sectors capable,the next ten sectors incapable, the next five sectors capable, the nextten sectors incapable, and the last three sectors capable. Thus, sincepart of the addresses is rendered playback capable, there is noaccessing problem. Further, in this example, as the sectors near thehead and end of the track are rendered playback capable, the IDinformation at alternating portions between lands and grooves can besurely played back, thus ensuring servo stability. Furthermore, the IDplayback-incapacitated sectors are allocated such as to continue atleast eight sectors in a row. This prevents the playback of at leasteight sectors in one ECC block (error correction code block). Inaddition, of those eight sectors, at least six sectors consist ofsuccessive sectors that are playback-incapacitated. Some recording andplayback apparatus are designed such that ID playback-incapacitatedsectors are automatically interpolated during a recording. However, evensuch systems with the interpolating function can be made to produce arecording error if the ID playback-incapacitated sectors appear morethan several sectors in a row. Namely, the recording-limited area can beintentionally formed.

Other methods of making part of the sectors of the ID in therecording-limited area playback-incapacitated include only the IDportion of the playback incapacitated site be amorphous. Therebyreducing its reflectivity, in which case the substrate is as known inthe art but may be processed after the formation of the disc.Alternatively, the ID portion at the playback incapacitated site may bekept un-initialized by, for example, masking only the ID portion ormodulating the laser power at the ID portion during the initializingstep. These methods are costly, but have the advantage of being able toeasily change the recording-limited area for individual discs. Furtheralternatively, pits may be provided at part of the recording tracks, orthe recording layer may be transformed in nature by irradiating of astrong laser light, for example.

Embodiment 3

In the present embodiment, the recording-limited area is allocated overthe entire user area in a distributed manner, and the informationconcerning its locations and the target information were recorded on thedisc as disc manufacturer information in the form of encrypted data. Thepresent embodiment employs a specialized device driver. The specializeddevice driver has functions for, e.g., reading the encrypted data fromthe medium and registering it as an invisible file such that therecording-limited area does not enter the user area, and recording orplaying back the disc by performing an address conversion. When therecording-limited area exists in different locations of the user area,as in the present embodiment, the disc cannot be played back by theconventional device driver, and a specialized software is required. Thisfact can be taken advantage of in constructing an applied system asaccording to Embodiment 5, which will be described later.

The data was encrypted by the following manner. The system according tothe present embodiment which is adapted for encryption is given one keyout of a set of more than 400 master keys, and the key is recorded inthe specialized software. A disc key is recorded in combination with theallocation information for the recording-limited area. Thus, by removingthe key from the disc, the recording-limited area allocation informationis erased, thus making a recording impossible. A decryption algorithmcomprises an exchange of the system key and the encryption key. Thisexchange between the disc key and the title key necessary for thedecryption of data from the disc, such as the allocation information, ismade unclear to the user. The present system has a circuit for decodingthe recording-limited area allocation information after instructing theinformation display. Other methods of encryption may be employed.

While in Embodiment 2, the random-recording UDF was used as the filesystem (logical format), file systems for write-once or sequentialrecording may also be used if there is a strong limitation inre-writing. In such cases, it is preferable to use an encryption suchthat the operation of the disc is possible only by means of a particulardevice driver as in the present embodiment, for example.

Embodiment 4

The concept of the optical recording system according to the presentinvention will be described by referring to FIGS. 1, 5 and 7. In thepresent embodiment, the recording limit is canceled once the targetinformation (such as an ad) is viewed and/or heard, thereby enablingrecording on the conventional systems. This can be realized by recordingthe allocation information for the recording-limited area in theinformation recording medium, as described in Embodiment 1.

As to the media, a standard recording and playback apparatus can be usedfor the conventional media, which can be recorded or played back byusing a standard control software (such as the device driver attached tothe OS).

On the other hand, as to the record-limited function system with thetarget information, the standard apparatus and the specialized controlsoftware as used in Embodiments 1 and 5 are used in combination. FIG. 1shows the state prior to the viewing of the target information (such asan ad), where the medium with a recording limit and the targetinformation (such as an ad) can be played back but not recorded on theconventional system. FIG. 1 relates to the case where the targetinformation is viewed and/or heard for the first recording time only. Inthe system equipped with the recording-limited function, the recordinglimit is canceled after the issuance of an instruction for viewingand/or hearing target information (such as an ad), thereby enablingrecording.

HG 5 shows the state where the target information (such as an ad) hasbeen viewed and/or heard following the state of FIG. 1. FIG. 5 alsoconcerns the case where the target information is viewed and/or heardfor the first recoding time only. Thus, in the medium according to thepresent embodiment, a recording is made possible both on the presentsystem and the conventional system once the recording limit is canceled.

However, if the target information (such as an ad) and/or theinformation about the location of the target information is partiallyand/or entirely erased, a state results as shown in FIG. 7, which alsoconcerns the case where the target information is to be viewed and/orheard for the first recording time only. This is because of the factthat since the recording-limited area allocation information, which hasbeen recorded together with a part and/or all of the target information(such as an ad) and/or the information about the location of the targetinformation, was partly or entirely erased, the recording limit couldnot be canceled. Thus, in order to record the information recordingmedium according to the present invention, the target information (suchas an ad) has to be necessarily viewed and/or heard.

In any case, it is a feature of this embodiment that therecording-limited medium with the target information can be recorded onthe conventional (standard) apparatus after the target information (suchas an ad) has been viewed and/or heard.

Embodiment 5

FIG. 11 shows an advertisement display system utilizing the informationrecording technique according to the present invention. In this case,the target information is an ad.

The method of recording the recording- and playback-limited medium is asdescribed in Embodiments 1 and 2.

In the present system, the user can purchase the information recordingmedia at prices below their listed price, or even obtain them free,because of the advertisement attached to the media. The media requirespecialized software if they are to be recorded on the conventionaldrive, and the ad is displayed during the recording. Thus, themedia/software manufacturer can sell the media at reduced prices becausethey can receive advertisement fees from the advertiser. The word“display” herein means not only visually, but it also includes suchexperiences by the user of the media as listening to sounds, feelingvibrations, touching, smelling, feeling an atmosphere, etc.

By using the present system, a business model can be constructed inwhich money flows in exchange for products/services rendered, asindicated by the arrows in FIG. 11. One advantage of this business modelis that since the conventional drive can be utilized, a great number ofusers can be targeted. Another advantage is that because theadvertisement can be viewed, heard or otherwise experienced by the userwithout fail, the advertisement can achieve higher results both in termsof numbers and quality.

Referring to FIG. 13, the ad contents may be recorded in a disc 104 andthen displayed on a display means 101 via a recording and playback drive103 and a software 102. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 14, a disc 108may be recorded with information about a link to the ad contents whichexist on a software 106, the ad contents being displayed on a displaymeans 105 via a recording and playback drive 107.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 15, a disc 112 may be recorded withinformation about a link to the ad contents, such that the linked adinformation is obtained from an external information distribution means113 via a software 110 and displayed on a display means 109. Theinformation about the link to the ad contents is played back from thedisc 112 by means of a recording and playback drive 111.

By recording the disc with the information about the link to the adcontents and connecting it with the external information distributionmeans, the ad contents can be updated. The external informationdistribution means may include a bidirectional television, the Internet,and other information exchanging means.

The advertising effect can be further enhanced by recording the userdata on the disc or software and allowing to select the contents of thedisplayed ad in accordance with the user data contents. The displayedcontents of the ad may also be varied depending on the amount of timethe user spent in recording, the recorded amount, the recorded contents(whether it is dynamic picture, static picture, data, audio, etc.), thenumber of recordings, the user environment, etc.

Another embodiments not described above are similar to those ofEmbodiments 1 to 4.

The invention also include the concept that the system in which arecording medium is provided to a user, said recording medium comprisinga recording-limited area where recording is limited and which isrecognized as a defective area, wherein an advertisement for anadvertiser is displayed in response to a recording instruction, andwherein a recording of information in said recording-limited area ismade possible by canceling the recording limit, said advertiser payingan advertisement fee was included in this description.

While in the present embodiment, the DVD-RAM was used as theconventional optical disc, the present invention may be applied to anytype of rewritable media as long as they have a recording area, or incombination with ROMs.

Thus, in accordance with the present invention, expanded functions suchas a record protection function can be easily realized without requiringchanges in hardware or physical specifications. Further, the inventioncan provide a secure optical recording system in which there is nochance of accidental recording or destruction of information byconventional systems that do not recognize the presence of the extendedfunctions.

1. A recording medium comprising: a user data area, an addressinformation, a code added to said address information, said code isinconsistent to corresponding said address information, wherein saidrecording medium is unreadable at a certain drive.
 2. A recording mediumaccording to claim 1, wherein said code is an ID error detection code.3. A recording medium according to claim 1, wherein said recordingmedium is readable at another drive.